Snippets
by Xannytoes
Summary: A look into the lives of Ash Ketchum and May Maple, as we watch them and their love bloom, grow and evolve over the course of several, seemingly unimportant moments in their lives. Advanceshipping, AaMayL, ADV, SatoHaru.
1. Nightmares

**Xannytoes:** Hello everybody! Xannytoes here, bringing you another dose of Advanceshipping goodness. You know what they say! An Advanceshipping fic a day keeps the pirates away! Get it? Ships? Like boats? And pirates? Like... bad guys who sail boats? No? Man, you guys just don't get my humour.

As I'm still working on the next chapter to Return of Hoenn (slowly but surely, it's coming), I thought I'd write this for a little bit of fun. A new series, entitled Snippets. This mini-series looks at Ash and May at random moments in their lives. Some are romantic, others (like the one you're about to experience) are crazy. I may even throw a few sad parts in there. Just think of this as a little tribute to this amazing pairing (which we all know will be canon one day). So sit back, relax and enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, Advanceshipping would be real and we'd have real Pokemon running around. The cover was made by me, using images from **orangedroplet** and **eatmypokemonshorts** on Deviantart. Make sure you check them out :)

* * *

Ash's mother had once given him some fantastic words of advice: women loved a man who could cook. Ash did not know what had overtaken his senses that morning, as if he was being controlled like a puppet, his actions not his own.

He'd decided to cook.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE FOOD!?"

It was some time later before Ash remembered another choice piece of advice from his parent: There was truly nothing more terrifying than an angry woman. If you managed to upset her in any way, it was scientifically proven that your life would become a lot shorter. Ash himself was experiencing a first-hand look.

"I'M SORRY!" Ash fled from the battle zone. He decided to take refuge beneath the dining room table. For a moment, he was concealed by tablecloth. A single moment of escape from the terror. This was up until the tablecloth spontaneously combusted, and Ash was left staring a furious May Maple in the face.

 _Think Ketchum, there has to be a way out of this. Come on...rack your brains for something... WAIT! I GOT IT!_

"Your hair looks wonderful!"

"RARGH!"

"MY SPLEEN!"

It was at this moment in time that Ash's most loyal companion and friend Pikachu, waking from the land of ketchup, decided to see what all the commotion was about. He peeked his head through the doorway for approximately three seconds, before deciding he'd best not get involved in the current situation.

"TRAITOR!" Ash cried out as his electric friend fled the scene. These would be the last words the young lad would utter for several minutes, as May pulled him out from under the table and tossed him across the room.

"I'm sorry," said Ash, as he landed on his rear with quite the thump. Looking up, he finally got a good look at the most important person in his life. Eyes blazing. Fists clenched. Sparks shooting off her body. All because he'd burnt her Ramen noodles.

Arceus, he loved her.

"You're sorry?" May raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, before picking up Ash by the collar of his shirt.

"Yes," Ash gasped, now struggling to breath, "I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you. I swear!"

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything! I-"

Oh sweet Giratina no. When he saw it, he knew he had screwed up.

The fires in May's eyes were doused, but the twitch of her lips that replaced it was perhaps more terrifying. Anger was washed away, replaced by the equally horrifying look of mischief that was yet to be managed.

"Anything you say?"

May tilted her head, and Ash was left wondering what series of horrible choices one would have to make to put them in this sort of situation.

"W-w-what did you have in mind?" the trainer inquired, as his right pocket experienced a reduction in weight. Didn't he keep his wallet there?

"You know how the sales are about to start?"

 _No. Not that._

But the voice inside Ash's head was obviously silenced by the nodding of the boy's head.

"Well, I was hoping we could go down to the mall this weekend and go shopping!"

 _RUN WHILST YOU STILL CAN!_

But Ash knew she would have locked the doors by now. Escape was futile.

"Oh it'll be fantastic! We'll visit all the stores a hundred times and use all that hard-earned money you've saved up from battling! We'll get handbags and jewelry and makeup and don't worry, I'm sure there will be something for you. Just as long as you carry all the bags!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

* * *

"AGH!"

Ash woke with a start. Clenching the covers of his bed tightly, he looked left and right. No stoves in his room. No packets of Ramen lacking clear cooking instructions. No credit cards to melt. He was safe.

"Ashy?"

Or not.

He glanced to his right, his fear subsiding somewhat. May was curled up in her side of the bed. Sleepy eyes blinked tiredness away. Her hair was wrapped around her neck like a scarf. Her small lips resisted the urge to let loose a yawn.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her hazel orbs softening somewhat. That was not the look of an evil terror who would subject him to the horrors of ready-made meals and sales at a clothes store. That was the look of someone who would protect him from those nightmares.

A grin lit up Ash's face.

"I'm fine May," he whispered, his head slowly sinking back to his pillow, and his hand stretching out to meet hers.

"Everything's just fine."

He had a feeling he wouldn't be experiencing any more nightmares tonight.

* * *

 **Xannytoes:** Sweet but crazy, amirite? Let me know what you thought in the reviews! Look forward to the next part coming soon! Until then, this is Xannytoes singing off. Take care!


	2. Cold

**Xannytoes:** Hey all! Hope you're all well. I give you the next chapter in the Snippets series (much later than it should have been, my apologies). A short, but sweet affair. Thanks in advance for reading! I'd also like to thank those who left kind reviews. Appreciate it as always :)

* * *

It was cold.

Cold as a Snorunt's Ice Beam. Chillier than a Vanilluxe with extra ice. Frostier than Misty waking up before she got her necessary beauty sleep. Ash gave off a shudder at that thought. He was fairly certain her mallet had left a permanent bruise on his poor noggin. Okay, he was getting a little off topic right now. Point was, it was pretty dang cold.

And his partner seemed to think so.

May Maple was buried in the furs of her own coat. Wrapping them around her thin form as tight as she could. Whenever the winds decided to come calling, she would shudder and shiver. The poor thing had already begun sneezing. Blowing her nose every few minutes. One particular thought that had remained in Ash's mind was that if they didn't get to a fireplace soonish, she'd catch a nasty cold.

And there was no way he'd be listening to her sneezing whilst they watched the Grand Pokémaster Championships.

Okay, maybe he was being a little harsh. Still, he'd been waiting weeks to watch the show. The anticipation and build-up to the event had driven him near crazy. He'd planned days in advance to watch it. He'd amassed enough snacks to feed a city. All that was left to do was fight through the snowy storm and make it home.

ACHOO!

"May, you okay?" Ash asked, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. She turned to look at him with watery eyes and a runny nose.

"Blergh," she muttered, "I'm fine Ash. Don't worry about it."

But the raven-haired trainer wasn't convinced.

A few minutes passed, and the two found themselves walking down the white sidewalk. The snow was falling thick and fast. Pelting their gloved hands and freezing the tips of their noses. With each fresh batch, a wave of sneezes overcame his girlfriend.

ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!

Each time she sneezed, the poor thing's body shook violently. She was constantly shivering, and her already pale skin looked to be a not-so-interesting shade of blue. Grabbing hold of her arm, Ash turned the brunette towards him.

"I'm fine Ash," she shook her head, before sneezing once again. Still, Ash Ketchum wasn't having any of it. He continued to gaze upon her scrunched up face, battered by the cold. He ran a gloved hand across her cheek, before removing several choice articles of clothing.

"A-A-Ash? What are you doing?" May asked, as he tossed his scarf around her neck. A coat and an extra pair of gloves soon followed.

"Let's go," he grabbed her hand and pulled her forwards, his teeth chattering.

ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!

Well, he'd managed to save May from the nasty embrace of a cold. That was something. Unfortunately, the elements had not been so kind to the Pokémon Trainer. Not two seconds after stepping through the door, he'd been brought down by a bout of sneezing. As much as he'd tried, he'd been unable to enjoy the wonderful offerings of the Grand Pokémaster Championships.

For some reason however, he didn't care.

"Warm enough?" May asked Ash, who was currently wrapped in two layers of blankets, pressing a hot water bottle to his side with one hand and sipping from a cup of near-boiling hot soup from the other.

"I think so," Ash nodded, "though I think it could be a little warmer…"

Understanding his not-so-subtle hint, May grinned and slipped under the covers with him, wrapping her arms around Ash.

And like that, neither of them were cold anymore.


	3. Snow

Ash had woken up to some bizarre sights in his time.

There was the one time where Pikachu had gotten into May's makeup kit. Both Ash's face and wallet had suffered a severe beating that day. Then there was May trying to make pancakes. It had taken him two hours to scrape them off the ceiling. He wasn't even going to go into the incident where he'd left a wonderful dream to be greeted with his girlfriend trying on a Gengar Halloween costume.

Yet even after all of that, he hadn't been expecting May's face glued to the window.

She was still dressed in her pyjamas. Her hair pointed in all directions. She was shivering gently, but heat didn't seem to be a concern of hers right now. Her head moved back and forth, as if searching for something hidden from sight. Her hands pushed against the glass, to the point where Ash thought she might slip through the transparent window.

"May?" he finally spoke up, slipping out of bed and sitting by her side, "What's up?"

She finally broke away from the window, grinning briefly at the (undoubtedly) rough morning face of her boyfriend. The coordinator tapped the floor beside her, inviting Ash to sit. He did so, immediately pulling her head onto his shoulder.

"You're up early," the trainer pointed out, "Pokéball for your thoughts?"

She didn't reply at first, only wrapping a pair of arms around Ash. Her gaze had turned back to the window, eyes continuing to look for… something. Yet as much as the raven-haired teen tried to figure it out, he couldn't spot it. Just what was she searching for?

Before Ash could ask, she provided the answer:

"There hasn't been much snow, has there?"

Ahh, there it was.

Snow. Light, fluffy flakes that fell from the heavens and somehow made life a million times better. Sure, they'd had to fight through a snowstorm about a month ago, but since then there'd been nothing. And they certainly hadn't had the chance to enjoy it beforehand. Believe it or not, snowstorms weren't the best place to throw snowballs at each other.

"I guess not," Ash agreed, "still, winter isn't over yet."

Still, they were halfway through. The deadline was fast approaching. If another batch of white didn't arrive soon, Ash wasn't certain it would come at all. And May loved snow more than anything. Maybe even more than himself.

Okay, maybe he wasn't certain about that last one.

Either way, he wasn't going to leave her like this. He had to do something to stick a smile back on her face. If he left her by the window, he knew she'd end up feeling sad all day. He had to take her mind away from what might not happen.

And he had just the idea for it.

"How does pancakes and a hot chocolate sound?"

"You're pretty good at this," May grinned as she sipped from her mug, the plate in front of her bearing no signs that two stacks of pancakes had inhabited it not a few moments ago.

"It's easy. You just have to avoid sticking them to the ceiling."

She stuck her tongue out at that, to which Ash replied by flicking some batter in her direction. May slipped under the attack, closing the distance between her and Ash. Face-to-face with her boyfriend, there were several avenues Ash knew she should take. She could hug him. Kiss him. Rub his hair. All of the above.

May went with option five: a pancake to the face.

Ash immediately staggered backwards. Maple syrup glued the food item to his face. As the raven haired trainer attempted to remove it, he felt the downpour of pancake batter slip down his face, shirt and many other places.

And so, the battle was on.

The Battle of Ash's Kitchen was a remarkable conflict, one still talked about a hundred years after its time. It was said the stains of battle remained weeks after, and that General Ash could never truly remove the flour stains from his pyjamas. Many pancakes joined the ones left by Lady May on the ceiling, and many trips to the store were needed to replenish the stores of maple syrup.

"That was quite the battle," Ash grinned, to which May slapped him with the towel she was using to dry her hair. The two were seated in their living room. The TV was on, but the attention directed towards it was minimal.

"I think it's fair to say I won it," May replied. Although Ash could provide her with fifty-two and a half reasons as to why that was false, he decided to let her have the victory. She was in such a happier mood. There was no chance he was taking that away.

Sure, it was a shame the snow had come and gone. But there was always next year. And the year after. And the year after that. And each time it refused to visit, Ash Ketchum would always be there to provide hot chocolate and an amazing food fight if ever his girlfriend felt down.

"Hey Ash… look!"

He moved over to the window, where like before, May had her face pressed against the glass.

"What is it Ma-"

The words caught in his throat, and a grin formed on his face.

Snow. Tiny droplets of frozen water at first, only to quickly form into a powerful downpour of white petals. In less than the span of a minute, the pavement was painted a soft, clear color and the cars lined up along the street were buried. Not a few seconds later, Ash and May had both dashed outside.

In theory, heading outside in nothing but your pyjamas and socks with snow pouring down probably isn't the best idea if you're concerned about your health or general sanity for that matter. But it quickly became apparent that the couple making snowmen, throwing snowballs and enjoying all that the winter times had to bring, honestly couldn't care less about a little bit of cold.

* * *

 **Xannytoes:** I thought a nice contrast from the evils of winter would be good for this chapter. Rather than trying to escape the cold, here they're looking to embrace it. Thanks for reading :)


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